TravelBluebird

The weather is better but still very windy. None of the front of the ship is opened today. We cannot do Lemaire Channel, which is a bit of a disappointment for sure, but captain needs to keep us safe. The plan is Neumayer Channel, Cuverville Island, Paradise Harbour and I think Neko Harbour, all weather permitting. Technical difficulties in Crows Nest with narration. We’ve heard a bit about birds this morning and our course, on the bow camera channel in the room. Russ’ cold is a bit better, but his rib is not. I still seem to not have caught it; I can’t believe it but am SO happy. Today no color correction needed—everything is white, grey and black, which our expedition leader Graham says is typical for this time of year.

@Haljo1935 that is correct. Suites only; none in our room. We brought our own binoculars, but they are not good enough for Antarctica. They are also selling binoculars in the Photo area.

Cropping and a bit of color correction—the whites and blues of the ice and snow are much “grayer” than what my eye has been seeing, even with exposure compensation in camera. And thank you! I think the exposure compensation has helped quite a bit!

😂 re man talk. So true. Truly is an incredible experience so far! I’m excited to see what tomorrow will bring!

Definitely getting some good ship shudders and creaks! We are evidently staying put, as in not moving. Was hard to figure out since I can’t see anything much out the balcony window. The Company Men show was excellent. 4 male singers, they say its like Motown meets a boy band, and that is a decent description. They do song mashups with good harmony and dancing. The tenor had a crazy high voice! The bass guy also very good. Good energy, well-known songs spanning 8 decades, and LIVE MUSIC! I’m always happy when a show does not have canned music.

I was in the Company Men - The Ultimate MixTape Experience show at Main Stage theatetr. Evidently, the captain came on with an update. My DH is not much of a journalist. I asked him what the captain said, DH said something like this: snow. big winds. storm. stay here. You can’t see a thing outside, it’s snowing, and we are hitting a few bumps or perhaps wind gusts. As I expect to lose internet soon, good time to read a book! If things go well tomorrow, 7am (perhaps) in Lemaire Channel).

Thank you—that looks fascinating! I shall add it to my growing Antarctic related reading list!

@Haljo1935 Thank you! There is one corner where the white things are shorter, and I aim there and have basically just packed away my wide angle; mostly using the telephoto lens! Its a bit more of a problem for the videos, but I’m trying to take more of those from Promenade and the Bow. Right now the balcony door is whistling from the high wind, so no work out for it tonight! Russ loves the ins and outs of the door—he thinks I keep the room too warm 😂 He says thank you, and he’s not gotten worse today so hopefully he’ll turn the corner now.

@NorbertsNiece I am being super careful, and Russ was pretty careful before, but its hard to stay away from the cruise cold once it starts. Glad you are getting over your cough!

Our path today!

I have to mention what a great job our room stewards Aris and Tari are doing. They keep making sure Russ doesn’t need anything; bringing him ice for his rib/back when needed; they just came by and hand delivered The Daily for tomorrow; got us new towels and took the trash. Really grateful for them today!

Captain just addressed ship again—winds of 65mph; he asked everyone to stay inside the ship—no outside at all tonight! And a couple photos of how uncrowded the bow was this afternoon because of the cold//wind:

After lunch, the captain did make his way to Neumayer Channel. He kept the bow open for us in spite of wind. REALLY windy…winds over 40mph. I discovered that uncovering the tips of my right thumb and forefinger to operate my camera and iphone (special camera gloves) pretty much froze em right off. There were humpback whales (I saw a spout and a fin!) and we saw a Scenic brand ship there, right by a small fort at Port Lockroy. What I couldn’t see with my naked eye OR my lens till I got back is that there are like a hundred Gentoo penguins in front of that building (has red in it). If only I had a better lens 😭 There was also a 3-masted ship there, and I couldn’t hear the narration but I think it might be the Europa. I got too cold to stay there outside any longer (there were just a few brave souls on the bow with me). After I came in, conditions deteriorated visibly, with less visibility and even some light snow! Captain got on the address system and informed us that with the lack of visibility and strong wind, we would go back to “sheltered water” and wait for the morning, where we would attempt Lemaire Channel again. Keep your fingers crossed for us! After that, DH decided to go to the medical center. The bad part of all this is each time he coughs, he really hurts that rib he cracked in Santiago. He just has a cold; no fever or anything, but they gave him some extra strength Tylenol for the coughing//rib and some cough medicine. He is staying in and having chicken soup. I think I’ll just eat up on the Lido, or join him with room service.

Double post; deleted

This is an earlier post I tried to make but lack of internet prevented me; Decided to post it before I go on! — it was earlier this afternoon. We are at hold while Captain surveys ice and weather, near a colony of penguins. Unfortunately my 300mm lens is not good enough to capture them clearly. But you can see the penguin trail, and if you blow up the photo, a gaggle of penguins! The bow has still been open, so I was out there for awhile. Some people saw a humpback whale; we did not. I brought down food from the Asian station on Lido for lunch, and I’m going up and down getting DH tea and fluids. Good thing we are aft and right near the elevator up to Lido Marketplace!

Captain just gave his noon address. We couldn’t get closer to Palmer Station this morning due to ice. Currently, winds are occassionally gusting to Beaufort 8 (40 mph). Wind chill overall is 19 degrees F . Overcast, snow forcast. Due to ice and conditions we are heading to Neumayer Channel instead of Lemaire—we will try for Lemaire again late today and if can’t do it then, again tomorrow morning. Current conditions:

DH is dead asleep. Poor dear. I’m supposed to take my Methotrexate tonight for my RA but it lowers my immune system so much, I think I should skip it to give me the best chance of not catching his cold. The worse thing that the “bruised” shoul Went up to Crow’s Nest for Hot Chocolate. So crowded. Lots of people there coughing or in masks, so I didn’t hang around. Ran outside on 10 to get photo of the big mountain. Came back and my hot chocolate was ready. Took a LONG time to get; just too many people wanting coffees and hot c at the moment. Back in room. Very overcast all of a sudden; mountains shrouded in heavy fog//mist. Also very light snow flurries. Not sure visibility will be good for Lemaire Channel; fingers crossed I understand that is a good spot for wildlife. None of these photos are processed, and all are iPhone photos. They NEED processing; sorry to basically be showing you the “negatives” but I don’t know when I’ll lose my internet again! Someone needs to remove these screens; bad idea; in middle of view.

Small bite (shared lox and bagels and coffee) was in the room at 6am. I also grabbed some quick Lido breakfast and more coffee and ventured out to the back pool area after being on Bow.

Current view In room listening to lecture on Antarctica’s Terrestrial Ecosystems- Life in the Freezer by Dr. Ed Butler

Beautiful morning! I’ve been on 3, on the bow, and at the back of the ship on 9 (outdoor pool) also in my room; where I am right now as we head toward Lemaire Channel. We were at Palmer Station this morning—I was able to get a couple photos using my long Nikon lens. Mostly overcast. From 28 to 33 degrees F so far today; winds not bad at all (max 13mph) If you squint you can see 3 penguins on one of the ice flows.

We are in Antarctica! Woke up 6am—in room taking photos. Russ staying in room for time being but he may wrap scarf around face and go outside later. We are VERY grateful we upgraded to the balcony room His big problem is that if he coughs it hurts his bruised rib. Ouch. With my bad immune system it’s a miracle I am not sick. Praying that continues. Beautiful!

The Daily for tomorrow has a notice that the Internet Connection n Antarctica does not have strong satellite coverage,and there will be a reduction of bandwidth capability—including partial loss of signal, slower browsing and temporary outages. Just FYI. We have our schedule for tomorrow, and weather andn ice permitting its a doozy. Palmer Station, Lemaire Channel, Neumeyer Channel.

Here are a few more iceberg photos…I swear I’ll stop now!

Delicious Filet Mignon for dinner, and bread pudding! There is an endless procession of beautiful icebergs. I keep going out to my balcony, thinking I have enough photos of icebergs, but I can’t help myself. I take more. I considered going to see the comic tonight alone for Main Stage, but decided against it. It is a brisk 34 degrees F but no wind. Possible snow tomorrow. DH is in bed reading. Still just a stuffy nose and I hope it gets no worse. This is the only iceberg photo I took that has the pretty orange color in the sky:

We did the afternoon lecture in the room. That worked perfectly. The lecture was actually about Antarctic Exploration. I love history; it was quite good. SO many books I want to read about Antarctica now. Sometimes I double post—that seems to be happening when the internet is slow; apologies.